Right, because Naga Peace Accord, as Prime Minister's Office claimed to have clinched in a high optics drama on Monday evening, cannot take place without taking all the stakeholders on board that includes Nagaland and the other affected states of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam and the NSCN (IM) and its faction groups in ceasefire agreement.
In fact, Naga peace accord would not only require signatures of all the stakeholders that includes union home secretary and other officials on behalf of the government of India but will also have to get the clearance of the cabinet after being vetted through by different ministries, especially law, defense and tribal affairs.
And wrong, because as it transpires now that the signed deal is not an Accord but merely a framework of agreement that has put on paper what would be the broad contours of the final agreement or Accord.
"The actual and the difficult part of the work begins now where you have to carefully draft the agreement after talking to all the stakeholders and taking into account their suggestions. The three states, especially Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh will have to be consulted at length on tricky issue of what status needs to be given to the seven Naga-dominated districts," said sources.
The NSCN (IM) that came down from its demand to assimilate these seven districts in Greater Nagalim wants far greater autonomy to be given to these districts so that Naga identity and culture could be preserved there.
Manipur has four Naga dominated districts of Ukhrul, Senapti, Tamenglong and Chandel while Arunachal Pradesh has three – Tirap, Changlang and Longding.
Sources said, it is not going to be an easy issue as the states would not like leave their control on these districts and would want to keep them under their ambit while the Nagas, riding on the feeling of victory, would like to extract maximum possibly autonomy and gains.
The reverberations "secret" peace deal with NSCN (IM) were felt even on Thursday when Naga interlocutor R N Ravi was summoned by union home minister Rajnath Singh to brief his office about the framework of agreement.
Home ministry was taken by surprise on Monday when Prime Minister's office suddenly announced inking of a Peace Accord with NSCN (IM). To its embarrassment it did not have any answers on the "historic Naga Accord".
An updated Rajnath Singh is expected to make a statement on Naga development in the parliament in coming days that will finally throw some light on the contours of the agreement reached between the two sides.